SAMANTHA

I woke up gasping for air and my hand immediately flew to my throat. The skin was tender and bruised and I could still feel the phantom pressure of Molly’s fingers wrapped around my neck. My eyes darted around the room and I realized I was still in the resting room. The torch had burned lower and the shadows were longer and the air was colder than before.

Someone had saved me. Someone had pulled Molly off me. Someone had kept me alive.

But who?

I tried to sit up and pain shot through my body. My ankle throbbed and my muscles screamed and my head pounded with a dull ache that would not go away. I pressed my palm against my forehead and I tried to remember what had happened. But the memories were fuzzy and fragmented and I could not piece them together.

The door creaked open and I tensed. A guard stepped inside and he looked at me with cold eyes. His voice was flat and emotionless.

"Up," he said. "The second round is about to begin. You need to be in the arena."

I stared at him. "I was just attacked. I can barely breathe. I cannot compete."

"That is not my concern. Get up. Now. Or I will drag you there myself."

I had no choice. I forced myself to stand and my legs shook beneath me and I had to grip the edge of the bench to steady myself. My throat was raw and my ankle was swollen and every part of me screamed in protest.

But I walked to the arena.

****

The arena was even more crowded than before. The nobles had returned and their voices blended together into a thunderous roar that made my head spin. The banners waved and the bets were placed and the excitement was electric in the air.

I looked up at the royal section and I saw the king on his throne and his face was unreadable. The princes sat beside him and Jayce looked bored and Finnian looked cold and Darlington looked worried. His eyes found me and I saw his expression shift when he saw the bruises on my neck.

Molly and the sisters were in their special section and they were smiling. They looked confident. They looked like they had already won.

My stomach dropped.

The king rose and he raised his hand and the crowd fell silent.

"The second round of the Luna Selection Games will now begin," he announced. "This round will test your senses. You will be blindfolded and you will navigate a new obstacle course. Only your hearing, your touch, and your instincts will guide you."

The crowd cheered.

I looked at the course. It was different from the first round. There were walls and ropes and pits but there were also strange contraptions that I did not recognize. Things that moved and shifted and seemed to change shape.

A servant approached me and he tied a thick black cloth around my eyes. The world went dark.

I could hear the other slaves moving around me. I could hear their breathing and their footsteps and their whispered prayers. I could hear Molly laughing somewhere in the stands.

"Begin!" the king shouted.

I ran.

I stumbled and I fell and I got up and I stumbled again. I could not see anything. I could not see the walls or the ropes or the pits. I could only feel.

I felt the ground beneath my feet and it was rough and uneven. I felt the air on my skin and it was cold and damp. I heard the sounds around me and they were confusing and disorienting.

I heard the other slaves moving past me. I heard their footsteps and their grunts and their cries of pain. I heard Molly shouting from the stands.

"Look at her! She can barely move!"

"She is pathetic!"

"She is going to fail!"

I tried to ignore them. I tried to focus. But I could not see. I could not navigate.

I was going to fail.

Then I heard a voice. It was calm and familiar and it seemed to come from inside my head.

Turn left.

I stopped. I turned left.

Duck.

I ducked and I heard something whoosh over my head. A swinging log, maybe. I did not know.

Jump.

I jumped and I felt the ground fall away beneath me. I landed on solid ground and I kept running.

I did not understand what was happening. I did not know who was guiding me. But I trusted the voice.

Climb.

I reached out and my hands found a rope. I pulled myself up and I climbed and I reached the top of a wall. I swung my legs over and I dropped to the other side.

Keep going.

I kept running. I kept climbing. I kept jumping. And I kept following the voice.

I reached the halfway point and the cloth was removed from my eyes. I blinked and the world came back into focus. I looked around and I saw that I was in the middle of the pack. I was not last. I was not failing.

I kept running.

I climbed the next wall and I swung across the next rope and I waded through the next pit. My body was screaming and my throat was burning and my ankle was throbbing. But I did not stop.

I reached the finish line and I collapsed onto the ground and I gasped for air. My chest was heaving and my heart was pounding and I could barely move.

I looked up and I saw that I had finished fifth.

I had made it to the final round.

The crowd was roaring and the nobles were cheering and the king was nodding. Molly and the sisters were furious. Their plan had not worked. They had not destroyed me.

I smiled. It was a small smile and it was tired and it was weak. But it was a smile.

The king rose and he raised his hand and the crowd fell silent.

"The second round is complete," he announced. "Two girls have been eliminated."

The guards stepped forward and they grabbed two girls. One of them was Clara. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide and she was shaking.

"No," she whispered. "Please. Give me another chance."

The guards did not listen. They dragged her away.

I watched her go and I felt a pang of sadness. Clara had helped me in the first round. She had pulled me out of the mud. She had told me not to give up.

And now she was gone.

I looked up at the stands and I saw Molly and the sisters whispering together. They were planning something. Something worse.

The final round would be emotional. And they were going to do everything they could to destroy me.

I looked at the princes and they were watching me. But the voice in my head during the blindfolded race had not been one of them.

I looked around the arena and I searched for the person who had saved me.

But I could not find them.